When Peter Rouff, a native of Binghamton, came to Buffalo to build his career as an orthodontist, he had spent eight years in Boston and two years in Philadelphia pursuing his education. He’d had enough of big cities.

“I had that out of my system,” he says. “Big cities offer you a whole lot, but it’s not worth it. This is a livable town. You work hard for what you get, but the hard work is appreciated, and the dollar goes quite far in Buffalo.”

He took an associate’s post with an established orthodontist, with a long-term plan to become a partner in the practice; the pace of the transition accelerated when Rouff’s boss grew ill and unable to work. Nine months after arriving in Buffalo, Rouff purchased the practice, which has enjoyed steady growth. Rouff’s interests have expanded, too: He is an investor in downtown real estate, and one of four original investors in this newspaper.

And now he’s running for the Delaware District Common Council seat, vacated in July by nine-year incumbent Mike LoCurto, who took a job in the Erie County Department of Environment and Planning. LoCurto’s departure was orchestrated to occur after the petition process for candidates had closed; that left his designated committee on vacancies to name a replacement candidate. Because LoCurto was the only candidate on the ballot, that committee—essentially an extension of Erie County Democratic Party headquarters—was empowered to choose the next councilman, with no input from voters. Their choice was Joel Feroleto, LoCurto’s cousin and the scion of a politically connected North Buffalo family. (His mother is State Supreme Court Justice Paula Feroleto.) Feroleto, who served on LoCurto’s staff and on the staff of former State Senator Antoine Thompson, was subsequently appointed by the Common Council to fill the vacant seat. he is expected to win on Tuesday.

Feroleto is by all accounts a decent guy who has been seeking elected office for years. But Rouff is aggravated by the manner in which he obtained the seat. Buffalo voters have not elected a Republican to the Common Council in 35 years, but Rouff thinks his messages will resonate: Voters deserve a choice; the Council desperately needs independent voices; party bosses should not anoint our representatives; the Delaware District needs an advocate as dedicated to its need as LoCurto was.

Rouff spoke with The Public about his candidacy last week.

How will you balance your practice and the responsibilities of a Common Council seat? The practice has certainly enjoyed some growth, and I hired an associate over the summer with plans to expand. What I’m going to be foregoing is that growth. The sacrifice is growing the office. I have a great team of employees, I have a phenomenal associate; my patients will be well taken care of. I like to say that if Darius Pridgen can save a million souls in Buffalo and serve on the Common Council, I can certainly straighten a few teeth.

I’ve said it before: There are 168 hours in a week. I’m unmarried, I don’t have children. I don’t sleep that much. I don’t look at this Common Council position as a hobby or a pastime. I understand how important and how serious the responsibilities you have to take on are. I’m going to have an unbelievably experienced staff helping me out at City Hall, the same way I have an experienced staff at my orthodontics office. You can’t do it alone. Hiring the right people is what makes the wheels turn.

What do you see as the principal job of a councilman? Look, your primary responsibility is to help constituents, the voters, the residents, to navigate city government. And I point to what Mike LoCurto did to help me as a resident of the Delaware District. I did not have positive results from calling 311; but when I called the councilman’s office and they resubmitted my 311 application, then the wheels moved.

Isn’t that a problem—that legislators are made to do what city departments should do on their own? Yes, but this the reason why you have a councilperson. I wish it wasn’t necessary. If, as a councilperson, you weren’t needed to do that, we could cut your salary and make this a part-time job. Your number one role is to be responsive to your constituents and help them navigate city government.

I’d put Mike LoCurto up on a pedestal for helping and being responsive.

Talk about some of the things you’d like to do while in office. As far as what I’d like to do, they are all quality-of-life issues. Look, every Republican candidate wants to cut taxes, but we’re not going to cut services. So we need to create other revenue streams.

For example, I’d like to see us take on those zombie homes, those mismanaged properties, whether they’ve been foreclosed upon or neglected by out-of-town landlords. Look, every Republican candidate wants to cut taxes but we’re not going to cut services. So we need to find other streams of revenue. Going to these zombie homes, these abandoned properties, if the sidewalks aren’t plowed, you have a public health issue. When the grass isn’t mowed, that attracts rodents, you have a public health issue. If we’re going to take this on, it’s going to be paid for by putting liens on the property. So that when the property is sold, government gets paid first, banks get paid second, and the property owner get paid third. We’ll recoup this money.

And let’s be clear: When the government mows your lawn, it charges $100 per hour. When it plows your sidewalk, it’s going to be done with the purpose of providing a revenue stream for the city.

Much like parking tickets. Exactly. How else do you raise extra revenue? I think that when city residents receive their property tax bill, there should be a box they can check to give a little extra dedicated to arts and cultural funding. Why not do the same on the back of parking tickets? You’ve already been nicked for $35…

There is some controversy in the Delaware and Ellicott districts about plans to redevelop the former hospital site at Gates Circle. What do you think? We can’t give a developer carte blanche. Buffalo gets its identity and its strength form our neighborhoods. We take pride in our neighborhoods, we identify with them. Where do you live? Elmwood Village. I live in Allentown. That sense of pride is awesome. You don’t want to let it get destroyed. So you get residents involved in the process when it comes to major zoning issues.

The other big third rail is what’s going on with the 198. I went to the DOT meeting, I saw what they were proposing, I saw the options that were there. And nicest part is that we’re not going to start implementing these changes for a while.

This road backs up to the Parkside neighborhood, and those residents have to be involved in this process. These cars are going to go somewhere. It’s going the interesting to see how it plays out: Do you want these cars in your front yard or in your backyard? There’s no resolution that’s going to make everybody happy. But we need to have citizen involvement in these major decisions.

Why did you, a Republican in a district where Democrats have a four-to-one registration advantage, decide to run for Council? I got involved in this because I felt like democracy was being taken away from the residents of the Delaware District. I’m a public high school kid; we live in a democracy not an aristocracy. You’ve got to give the voters a say in who will represent them.

Practically, how does a Republican run a winning campaign, given the landscape? It started with getting on the ballot. It started with canvassing the high-volume Republican voters, the high-volume Conservative voters, and I hit every one of those doors, all over the 34 wards of the Delaware District. I knocked on every one of them. That is how you get your message across, that’s how you tell people that you can be trusted and what you’re doing there. [Joel Feroleto] campaigned for it as well, but I won that Republican nomination 65% to 35%.

When I knock on doors now in this general election, I find constituents are responding to this story: Someone tried to take away a freedom that we take for granted. They’re not pleased by this.

I’m the first to admit what an uphill battle this is. Being outnumbered four to one on the enrollment; being outnumbered by the sum of minor and unaffiliated enrollments. Being the first of anything that hasn’t been done in 35 years. I know what kind of an uphill battle this is, but I got into this to do more than just make a statement. Voters deserve a chance to stand up for themselves and say, “We need a choice, we need a voice. Don’t do this to us.”

I don’t feel that I’m any particularly special person. Certainly I’m not a lawyer. Certainly I’ve never made forays into politics before. This is the equivalent of the movie Network: I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore.

How are Democrats in the district responding to you? Outstanding. Canvassing, I’m hitting on every registered voter’s door as I walk through these wards. An overwhelming number of people know this story. It’s been in some mainstream media, and we are certainly hitting people with campaign literature on this. I’ve been shocked by the number of Democrats who have said, “I’ve never voted for a Republican before; I’m voting for you.” And to the ones who have stopped after “I’ve never voted for a Republican before,” I have said, “Well, if you look on the lower right I’m also on the Reform line and you can vote for me there.”

Are you getting help for the GOP headquarters? Look, it’s the Erie County Republican Party. They haven’t had a local candidate here in a long time. I am not getting financial support from them. There is a city Republican committee, and they’re helping me out with the ground game. And Nick Langworthy has been nothing but supportive of this campaign.

Constituent services, quality-of-life issues, citizen input into planning decisions—none of these things have a real party inflection. How do you think being a Republican might manifest in the office of Delaware District councilman? You’ve seen a single-party legislature almost continually. Everybody from the same party, rubberstamping, you know, rah-rah. This is an awesome opportunity to put a strong, independent, almost watchdog voice on the Council. I only have to respond to the voters. I don’t have any leadership to answer to. My big joke when asked,  “What are you going to do when you win,” is to say, “I hope to be elected minority leader.”

There is this opportunity to bring in a completely independent voice, someone who can look at government with a new set of eyes, and who does not need to answer to the same party leadership.